No Avalanche player has donned the No. 23 sweater since Milan Hejduk retired after the 2012-13 season, and nobody ever will.
The Avs on Wednesday announced they will retire Hejduk’s No. 23 to the Pepsi Center rafters Jan. 6 before a game against the visiting Minnesota Wild. Twenty-three will be the sixth number retired in Avalanche history, joining Joe Sakic (19), Peter Forsberg (21), Patrick Roy (33), Adam Foote (52) and Ray Bourque (77).
“Milan was a tremendous player, a great teammate, a winner and a true professional in every sense,” Sakic, now the Avalanche’s general manager, said in a release.